such cave that Lot and his two daughters dwelt after the de- | leon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria, Jews, Gentiles, struction of Sodom (Gen. xix. 30.); and in similar caverns, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and anti-christian Frenchmen, excavated by primeval shepherds as a shelter from the scorch- Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors ing beams of the sun, Dr. Clarke and his fellow-travellers out of every nation which is under heaven, have pitched their found a grateful protection from the intense heat of the solar tents in the Plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the various rays; as Captains Irby and Mangles subsequently did, from banners of their nation wet with the dews of Tabor and of a violent storm,2 These caves were sometimes the haunts Hermon." This plain is enclosed on all sides by mountains: or strongholds of robbers (as the excavations in the rocks the hills of Nazareth to the north,-those of Samaria to the near Bethlehem are to this day), and to them our Lord south,-to the east, the mountains of Tabor and Hermon, Probably alludes in Matt. xxi. 13., where he reproaches the and Carmel to the south-west. The Rev. Mr. Jowett, in Jews with having profaned the temple of God, and made it November, 1823, counted in his road across this plain only a den of thieves. five very small villages, consisting of wretched mud hovels, VII. Numerous fertile and level tracts are mentioned in chiefly in ruins, and only a very few persons moving on the the Sacred Volume, under the title of PLAINS. Three of road; so that to this scene the words of Deborah might again these are particularly worthy of notice; viz. be truly applied :-The highways were unoccupied; the inhabitants of the villages ceased; they ceased in Israel. (Judg. v. 6, 7.) The soil is stated to be extremely rich; and in every direction are the most picturesque views. The plain of Esdraelon now bears the name of Fooli, and has been celebrated in modern times by the victory which Murat gained over the Mamelukes and Arabs, in their attempt to relieve Acri or Acre, in April, 1799. Mr. Jowett computes this plain to be at least fifteen miles square, making allowances for some apparent irregularities. Though it bears the title of "Plain," yet it abounds with hills, which in the view of it from the adjacent mountains shrink into nothing.8 1. The PLAIN OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, which reached from the river of Egypt to Mount Carmel. The tract between Gaza and Joppa was simply called the Plain, in this stood the five principal cities of the Philistine satrapies, Ascalon, Gath, Gaza, Ekron or Accaron, and Azotus or Ashdod. The tract from Joppa to Mount Carmel was called Saron or Sharon; which however is a different place from the Sharon that lies between Mount Tabor and the sea of Tiberias, and from another place of the same name, which was celebrated for its pastures, and was situated in the tribe of Gad beyond Jordan. 2. The PLAIN OF JEZREEL, or of ESDRAELON, also called the GREAT PLAIN (the Armageddon of the Apocalypse), extends from Mount Carmel and the Mediterranean to the place where the Jordan issues from the sea of Tiberias, through the middle of the Holy Land. Here, in the most fertile part of the land of Canaan, the tribe of Issachar rejoiced in their tents. (Deut. xxxiii. 18.) In the first ages of Jewish history, as well as during the Roman empire and the crusades, and even in later times, it has been the scene of many a memorable contest. "Here it was that Barak, descending with his ten thousand men from Mount Tabor, discomfited Sisera and all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, gathered from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon; when all the host of Sisera fell upon the sword, and there was not a man left; when the kings came and fought, the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. (Judg. iv. 13. 15, 16. v. 19.) Here also it was that Josiah, king of Judah, fought in disguise against Necho king of Egypt, and fell by the arrows of his antagonist. (2 Kings xxiii. 29.) So great were the lamentations for his death, that the mourning of Josiah became an ordinance in Israel (2 Chron. xxxv. 24, 25.): and the great mourning in Jerusalem, foretold by Zechariah (xii. 11.), is said to be as the lamentations in the plain of Esdraelon, or, according to the prophet's language, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. Josephus often mentions this very remarkable part of the Holy Land, and always under the appellation of the Great Plain: and under the same name it is also mentioned by Eusebius and by Jerome. It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from the days of Nabuchadonosor king of the Assyrians, in the history of whose war with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the Great Plain | of Esdrelom,1 until the disastrous march of the late Napo was inhabited. All the dwelling places being formed in the same manner, a description of the scheik's may suffice for the rest. The upper soil is sandy earth of about four feet in depth; under this sand, and in some places line-stone, a large hole is dug to the depth of twenty-five or thirty feet, and its breadth in every direction is about the same, being as nearly as can be made, a perfect square. The rock is then smoothed, so as to form perpendicular sides to this space, in which doors are cut through, and arched chambers excavated, so as to receive their light from the doors: these rooms are sometimes three or four of a side, in others, a whole side camel The entrance has a strong wall built over it, something resem 3. The REGION ROUND ABOUT JORDAN (Matt. iii. 5.) comprised the level country on both sides of that river, from the lake of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea. Of this district the Plain of Jericho, celebrated for its fertility and the intense heat that prevails there during the hot season, forms a part; as also do the Valley of Salt near the Salt or Dead Sea (where David defeated the Syrians (1 Chron. xviii. 3-8.) and Amaziah discomfited the Edomites), and the Plains of Moab where the Israelites encamped, and which are also called Shittim in Num. xxv. 1. Josh. ii. 1. and iii. 1., the Plains of Shittim, in Num. xxxiii. 49. (marginal rendering), and the Valley of Shittim, in Joel iii. 18. VIII. Frequent mention is made in the Scriptures of WILDERNESSES or DESERTS, by which we usually understand desolate places, equally devoid of cities and inhabitants. The deserts noticed in the Bible, however, are of a different description; as the Hebrews were accustomed to give the name of desert or wilderness to all places that were not cultivated," but which were chiefly appropriated to the feeding of cattle, and in many of them trees and shrubs grew wild. Hence this term is frequently applied to the commons (as they would be called in England) which were contiguous to cities or villages, and on which the plough never came. The wildernesses or deserts of Palestine, therefore, are two-fold: some are mountainous and well watered, while others are sterile sandy plains, either destitute of water, or affording a very scanty supply from the few brackish springs that are occasionally to be found in them; yet even these afford a grateful though meagre pasturage to camels, goats, and sheep. The Deserts of the Hebrews frequently derive their appellations from the places to which they were contiguous. Thus, 1. The DESERT or WILDERNESS OF SHUR lay towards the northeastern point of the Red Sea. In this wilderness, Hagar wandered, when unjustly driven from Abraham's house by the jealousy of Sarah (Gen. xvi. 7.): and the Israelites marched through this wilderness after they had miraculously crossed the Red Sea (Exod. xv. 22.), as they also did subsequently through, 2. The WILDERNESS or DESERT OF PARAN, which lay considerably more to the south. (Num. x. 12.) In this desert (which was situated in Arabia Petræa, near a city of the same name), Ishmael resided: and hence Moses sent out spies to bring intelligence concerning the promised land. (Num. xiii. 3.) The Desert of Paran "is in many parts intersected by numerous ravines and glens, and broken by lofty barriers. Among these, the noble mountain of Paran, with its enormous precipices, is only a long day's journey distant, and always in sight from the neighbourhood: it is, with mountains of all sizes and heights, without roads or capable of ascent only on the farthest side, and that not without difficulty. Around its base are flat plains of sand, well adapted to large encampments: here and there, at long intervals, a clump of palm trees is seen, and in their vicinity water is generally found." 3. The DESERT OF SINAI Was that in the vicinity of Mount Sinai in Arabia: here the Israelites were for a long time encamped, and received the chief part of the laws delivered to them by Jehovah through the ministry of Moses. 4. The WILDERNESS OF ZIPH was contiguous to a town or village of the same name, and here David concealed himself for some time. (1 Sam. xxiii. 14, 15.) But the most celebrated of all is, 5. The WILDERNESS or DESERT OF JUDAH. (Psal. Ixiii. title.) The Desert of Judæa in which John the Baptist abode till the day of his showing unto Israel (Luke i. 80.), and where he first taught his countrymen (Matt. iii. 1. Mark i. 4. John x. 39.), was a mountainous, wooded, and thinly inhabited tract of country, but abounding in pastures; it was situated adjacent to the Dead Sea, and the river Jordan. In the time of Joshua it had six cities, with their villages. (Josh. xv. 61, 62.) It is now one of the most dreary and desolate regions of the whole country. 6. The vast DESERT OF ARABIA, reaching from the eastern side of the Red Sea to the confines of the land of Canaan, in which the children of Israel sojourned after their departure from Egypt, is in the Sacred Writings particularly called THE DESERT; very numerous are the allusions made to it, and to the divine protection and support which were extended to them during their migration. Moses, when recapitulating their various deliverances, terms this desert a desert land and waste howling wilderness (Deut. xxxii. 10.)—and that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, scorpions,2 and drought, where there was no water. (Deut. viii. 15.) The prophet Hosea describes it as a land of great drought (Hos. xiii. 5.); but the most minute description is that in Jer. ii. 6.—a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt. These characteristics of the desert, particularly the want of water, will account for the repeated murmurings of the Israelites both for food and water (especially the latter) and the extremity of their sufferings is thus concisely, but most emphatically portrayed by the Psalmist. (cvii. 5.)5 3 Hungry and thirsty, THEIR SOULS FAINTED in them. In this our temperate climate, surrounded as we are with perpetual verdure and with every object that can delight the eye, we can scarcely conceive the horrors encountered by the hapless traveller when crossing the trackless sands, and exposed to all the ardours of a vertical sun. The most recent as well as the most graphic description of a desert (which admirably illustrates the passages above cited) is that given by the enterprising traveller, M. Belzoni, whose researches have contributed so much to the elucidation of the Sacred Writings. Speaking of a desert crossed by him in Upper Egypt, on the western side of the Red Sea, and which is parallel with the great desert traversed by the Israelites on the eastern side of that sea, he says, "It is difficult to form a correct idea of a desert, without having been in one: it is an endless plain of sand and stones, sometimes intermixed 1 Carne's Recollections of the East, p. 278. Scorpions are numerous in the desert as well as in all the adjacent parts of Palestine: the malignity of their venom is in proportion to their size; and serpents of fiery bites (as the Arabic version renders Dent, viii. 15.) are not unfrequent. Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, &c. pp. 499, 500. 3 This expression has exercised the ingenuity of commentators, whose opinions are recited by Mr. Harmer (Observations, vol. iv. pp. 115, 116.); but the correctness of the prophetic description is confirmed by the exist ence of a similar desert in Persia. It is a tract of land broken into deep ravines, destitute of water, and of dreariness without example. The Persians have given to it the extraordinary but emphatic appellation of Malek-el-Moatderch, or the Valley of the Angel of Death. (Morier's Second Journey, p. 168.) At four hours' distance from the promontory of Carmel, keeping along the coast, Mr. Buckingham entered a dreary pass cut out of the rock, called Waad-el-Ajal, literally, the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Here were the appearances of a gate having once closed it, as places for hinges were still visible; and while the centre was just broad enough to admit a wheeled carriage or loaded camel, there were on each side raised causeways hewn out of the rock, as if for benches of repose, or for foot passengers. (Buckingham's Travels, p. 122.) It was, in all probability, from some similar pass that the son of Jesse borrowed the figure of which he makes so sublime a use in the twenty-third psalm. See particularly Num. xx. 2-5. and xxi. 5. In the Christian Observer for 1810, pp. 1-9. there is a new and elegant version of the hundred and seventh psalm, accompanied with critical and explanatory notes, from the pen of Bishop Jebb. shelter, without any sort of produce for food. The few scat tered trees and shrubs of thorns, that only appear when the rainy season leaves some moisture, barely serve to feed wild animals, and a few birds. Every thing is left to nature; the wandering inhabitants do not care to cultivate even these few plants, and when there is no more of them in one place they go to another. When these trees become old and lose their vegetation, the sun, which constantly beams upon them, burns and reduces them to ashes. I have seen many of them entirely burnt. The other smaller plants have no sooner risen out of the earth than they are dried up, and all take the colour of straw, with the exception of the plant harrack; this falls off before it is dry. "Generally speaking, in a desert, there are few springs of water, some of them at the distance of four, six, and eight days' journey from one another, and not all of sweet water: on the contrary, it is generally salt or bitter; so that if the thirsty traveller drinks of it, it increases his thirst, and he suffers more than before. But, when the calamity happens, that the next well, which is so anxiously sought for, is found dry, the misery of such a situation cannot be well described. The camels, which afford the only means of escape, are so thirsty, that they cannot proceed to another well: and, if the travellers kill them, to extract the little liquid which remains in their stomachs, they themselves cannot advance any farther. The situation must be dreadful, and admits of no resource. Many perish victims of the most horrible thirst. It is then that the value of a cup of water is really felt. He that has a zenzabia of it is the richest of all. In such a case there is no distinction. If the master has none, the servant will not give it to him; for very few are the instances where a man will voluntarily lose his life to save that of another, particularly in a caravan in the desert, where people are strangers to each other. What a situation for a man, though a rich one, perhaps the owner of all the caravans! He is dying for a cup of water-no one gives it to him-he offers all he possesses -no one hears him-they are all dying-though by walking a few hours farther they might be saved.-If the camels are lying down, and cannot be made to rise—no one has strength to walk-only he that has a glass of that precious liquor lives to walk a mile farther, and, perhaps, dies too. If the voyages on seas are dangerous, so are those in the deserts. At sea, the provisions very often fail; in the desert it is worse: at sea, storms are met with; in the desert there cannot be a greater storm than to find a dry well: at sea, one meets with pirates we escape-we surrender-we die; in the desert they rob the traveller of all his property and water; they let him live perhaps, but what a life! to die the most barbarous and agonizing death. In short, to be thirsty in a desert, without water, exposed to the burning sun without shelter, and NO HOPES of finding either, is the most terrible situation that a man can be placed in, and one of the greatest sufferings that a human being can sustain: the eyes grow in flamed; the tongue and lips swell; a hollow sound is heard in the ears, which brings on deafness, and the brains appear to grow thick and inflamed: all these feelings arise from the want of a little water. the midst of all this misery the deceitful morasses appear before the traveller at no great distance, something like a lake or river of clear fresh water. If, perchance, a traveller is not undeceived, he hastens his pace to reach it sooner; the more he advances towards it, the more it recedes from him, till at last it vanishes entirely, and the deluded passenger often asks, where is the water he saw at no great distance ? He can scarcely believe that he was so deceived; he protests that he saw the waves running before the wind, and the reflection of the high rocks in the water. In "If unfortunately any one falls sick on the road, there is no alternative; he must endure the fatigue of travelling on a camel, which is troublesome even to healthy people, or he must be left behind on the sand, without any assistance, and remain so till a slow death come to relieve him. What horTor! What a brutal proceeding to an unfortunate sick man! Terrific as the above description is, it is confirmed in most of its details by Quint. Curtius; who, describing the passage of Alexander the Great and his army across the deserts of Sogdiana, thus graphically delineates its horrors: "Amidst a dearth of water, despair of obtaining any kindled thirst before nature excited it. Throughout four hundred stadia not a drop of moisture springs. As soon as the fire of summer pervades the sands, every thing is dried up, as in a kiln always burning. Steaming from the fervid expanse, which appears like a surface of sea, a cloudy vapour darkens the day.. The heat, which commences at dawn, exhausts the animal juices, blisters the skin, and causes internal inflammation. The soldiers sunk under depression of spirits caused by bodily debility." Quint. Curt. lib. vii. c. 5. No one remains with him, not even his old and faithful ser- | reside, as a good land—a land of brooks of water, of founvant; no one will stay and die with him; all pity his fate, but no one will be his companion."1 The phenomenon, here described, is produced by a diminution of the density of the lower stratum of the atmosphere, which is caused by the increase of heat, arising from that communicated by the rays of the sun to the sand with which this stratum is in immediate contact. This phenomenon existed in the great desert of Judæa, and is expressly alluded to by the sublime and elegant Isaiah,2 who, when predicting the blessings of the Messiah's spiritual kingdom, says,— tains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. How justly this corresponded with the actual state of the country, the preceding pages have shown:-Moses further added, that it was a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive, and honey, whose stones were iron, and out of whose hills they might dig brass. The enemies of Revelation, forming their notions of its former exuberant fertility from the present state of the Holy Land under the Turkish government, have insinuated that it never could have been the lovely and fertile spot which the Sacred Writings affirm it to have been: but a concise statement of its productions, as we may collect them from the Scriptures, together modern voyagers and travellers, will all concur to establish with the attestations of ancient profane writers, as well as of the unimpeachable veracity of the inspired writers. The glowing sand3 shall become a pool, And the thirsty soil bubbling springs. And it is not improbable that Jeremiah refers to the serâb or mirage when, in pouring forth his complaint to God for mercies deferred, he says, Wilt thou be altogether unto me as II. The Holy Land is said to have exceeded even the very waters that be not sure? (marginal rendering of Jer. xv. 18.) celebrated land of Egypt, in the abundance of its PRODUCthat is, which have no reality, as the Septuagint translators have TIONS. To this wonderful fertility many circumstances are rendered it, ύδωρ ψευδες ουκ έχον πισιν. supposed to have contributed; such as the generally excelFrightful as the horrors of the deserts are, they are aug-lent temperature of the air, which was never subject to exmented beyond description, should the traveller be overtaken cessive heats (except in the plain of Jericho) or colds; the by one of those sand-storms, which prevail during the dry regularity of its seasons, especially of the former and the seasons. Sometimes the high winds raise into the air thick latter rain: and the natural richness of the soil, which is a clouds of dust and sand, which, descending like a shower of fine mould without stones, and almost without a pebble. rain, most grievously annoy all among whom they fall, and 1. A plenty of WHEAT was promised to the Israelites on penetrate the eyes, nostrils, ears, in short, every part of the their obedience (Psal. lxxxi. 16. and exlvii. 14.); and so abunhuman frame that is exposed to it. At other times the sands dant was the produce of the wheat and barley, that sixty and are drifted into such heaps, so that, if any storm of wind a hundred fold rewarded the toil of the cultivator. (Gen. xxvi. should arise, the track is lost, and whole caravans perish in 12. and Matt. xiii. 8.) This was sometimes stored in subthe inhospitable wilderness. Such are the showers of powder terraneous granaries, which in 1 Chron. xxvii. 25. are termed and dust, with which Moses denounced that God would storehouses in the fields. Such granaries are still in use courge the disobedient Israelites, in Deut. xxviii. 24.4 among the Moors. The wheat of Minnith and Pannag was particularly celebrated, and so plentiful that it was exported to Tyre. (Ezek. xxvii. 17.) In the treaty concluded between Solomon and Hiram king of Tyre, for the building of the temple, the Hebrew monarch was to supply the latter annually with twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household (1 Kings v. 11.), and the same quantity for the hew SECTION II. ON THE FERTILITY AND PRODUCTIONS OF THE HOLY LAND. number of measures of barley. More than a thousand years after this time, the coasts of Tyre and Sidon were supplied with corn from Palestine. (Acts xii. 20.) L. Fertility of the Holy Land.-II. Its productions;-1. Vege-ers that cut timber (2 Chron. ii. 10.), together with an equal tables;-2. Cattle ;—3, Mines.—III. Testimonies of ancient and modern authors to its fertility and populousness.-IV. Calamities with which this country was visited;-1. The Plague;-2. Earthquakes ;-3. Whirlwinds ;-4. The devastations of locusts;—5. Famine ;—6. The Simoom, or pestilential blast of the desert.5 I. MOSES, addressing the Israelites a short time before his death, characterized the country whither they were going to Belzoni's Narrative of his Operations and Researches in Egypt, &c. (ito. London, 1520), pp. 341–343. In another part of his volume, Mr. B. 12ore particularly describes the mirage (for such is the appellation by which this phenomenon is now commonly known), in the following terms: -It generally appears like a still lake, so unmoved by the wind, that every thing above is to be seen most distinctly reflected by it. If the wind agitate any of the plants that rise above the horizon of the mirage; the motion is seen perfectly at a great distance. If the traveller stand elevated much above the mirage, the apparent water seems less united and less deep; for, as the eyes look down upon it, there is not thick ness enough in the vapour on the surface of the ground to conceal the earth from the sight; but, if the traveller be on a level with the hori zon of the mirage, he cannot see through it, so that it appears to him clear water. By putting my head first to the ground, and then mounting a camel, the height of which from the ground might have been about ten feet at the most, I found a great difference in the appearance of the mirage. approaching it, it becomes thinner, and appears as if agitated by the wind, like a field of ripe corn. It gradually vanishes, as the traveller approaches, and at last entirely disappears, when he is on the spot." (p. 196.) Dr. Clarke has described the mirage, as it appeared to him on his journey to Rosetta, in 1801. (Travels, vol. iii. p. 371.) Similar descriptions, but none so full as that of Mr. Belzoni, may be seen in Sir J. Malcolm's Hist. of Persia, vol. ii. p. 512; in Elphinstone's Account of the Kingdom of Caubul 16. 4to. London, 1815); Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire (p. 223. 4to. London, 1813); Lieut. Pottinger's Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde (p. 185. 4to. London, 1816); in Dr. Della Cella's Narrative of the Bey of Tripoli's Expedition, in 1817, to the Western Frontier of Egypt, (p. 58. London, 1822. 8vo.); in Mr. Madden's Travels in Turkey, &c. vol. ii. pp. 199, 200. London, 1829; and Mr. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, Egypt, &c. vol. i. p. 67. Dr. Henderson has described the Serâb as it appeared on his journey towards Kherson in the Crimea, Biblical Researches, pp. 278, 279. (London, 1826. 8vo.) Isa. XXXV. 7. Bp. Lowth's translation. On The phenomenon referred to by Isaiah, is termed by the Arabs, as well as by the Hebrews 1 (SeRaB); and to this day the Persians and Arabs make use of it, by an elegant metaphor, to express disappointed hope. Fragments supplementary to Calmet's Dictionary, No. 172. In the London Weekly Review, No. 1. (June 9th, 1827), there is an animated and graphic delineation of one of these terrific sand-storms in the desert, extracted from the manuscript Journal of the intelligent traveller Mr. Buckingham, who was exposed to its fury for several hours, and, with his companions, was providentially preserved from destruction. • Besides the authorities cited in the course of this section, the following works have been consulted for it; viz. Relandi Palæstina, tom. i. pp. 37-391.; Schulzii Archeologia Hebraica, pp. 9-16.; Pareau, Antiquitas This country also abounded with HONEY, not only that made by the domesticated or hived bees, but also with honey made by bees in a wild state, and deposited on rocks and in the hollows of trees (1 Sam. xiv. 25. Deut. xxxii. 13. Psal. lxxxi. 16.), which formed a part of the food of John the Baptist in the wilderness. (Matt. iii. 4.) The Mount of Olives and other districts in Judæa and Galilee produced the finest OLIVES; and the red wines of Lebanon were particularly celebrated for their fragrance. (Hos. xiv. 7.) The wines of Helbon furnished a profitable article of export to Damascus (Ezek. xxvii. 18.): and modern travellers attest the size and weight of the clusters of GRAPES still produced in Palestine, which will account for the spies carrying the cluster of grapes cut down in the valley of Eshcol (Num. xiii. 23.) between two upon a staff. Various herbs, shrubs, and trees imparted beauty and fragrance to this highly-favoured land. Among the herbs and shrubs, the aloe (Psal. xlv. 8. Prov. vii. 17. Sol. Song iv. 14.), the hyssop (1 Kings iv. 33. Matt. xxvii. 48. Mark xv. 36.), the rose, especially the rose of Sharon (Sol. Song ii. 1.), the lily (Ibid. ii. 16. iv. 5. v. 13. Matt. vi. 28.), the spike Hebraica, pp. 63-66.; Jahn et Ackermann, Archæologia Biblica, §§ 16. 22, nard (Mark xiv. 3. 5. Sol. Song i. 12.) the carob tree (Tv, Luke xv. 6.), the spina Christi or thorn of Christ,2 the mansrake (a species of melon), (Gen. xxx. 14. Sol. Song vii. 13.), the myrtle (Isa. xli. 19. and lv. 13. Zech. i. 8.), and the mustard tree (Matt. xiii. 31, 32.), may be distinctly noticed.4 Although modern travellers do not mention the existence of any woods or forests, or, indeed, any considerable number of trees, yet it appears that, anciently, the Holy Land was well covered with wood. We read of several FORESTS and Woods in the Sacred Writings, particularly, to which David withdrew to avoid the fury of Saul. (1 Sam. xxii. 5.) To these, perhaps, may be added, (5.) The THICKETS on the banks of the Jordan, in Zech. xi. 3. termed the pride of Jordan, which anciently were the coverts of wild beasts, and are to this day composed of oleanders, tamarisks, and other shrubs. Among the trees, which adorn Palestine, the PALM TREE claims the precedence of notice, on account of its singular utility; it affords a grateful shelter, an agreeable fruit, and a most delicious wine.6 The finest palm trees grew in the vicinity of Jordan and Engeddi; and they still flourish in the plain of Jericho, which city was anciently termed by way of distinction the City of Palm Trees. In 1818, however, its plantation of palm trees were reduced to about one dozen; and, in 1825, the "City of Palms" could not boast of one of these beautiful trees around it. The palm trees of Judaa are celebrated by Strabo,9 and by Josephus,10 who has particularly noticed the palm trees of Jericho. The palm tree was the common symbol of Palestine, many coins of Vespasian and other emperors" being extant, in which Judæa is personified by a disconsolate woman sitting under a palm tree. A vignette of one of these is given in p. 91. supra. As the momentary prosperity of the wicked is frequently compared to the transient verdure of grass; so the durable felicity of the righteous is in Psalm xcii. 12. likened to the lasting strength and beauty of the palm tree. "But chiefly (1.) The FOREST OF CEDARS on Mount Lebanon. See 1 Kings vii. 2. 2 Kings xix. 23. Hos. xiv. 5, 6. These noble and beautiful trees, which are unrivalled in grandeur and beauty in the vegetable kingdom, have furnished the inspired writers with numerous exquisite similitudes. "To break the cedars, and shake the enormous mass in which they grow, occur among the figures which David selects to express the power and majesty of Jehovah (Psal. xxix. 4, 5.), to the full understanding of which their countless number at one period, and vast bulk, ought to be kept in view. By the planting of a cedar the prophet (Ezek. xvii. 22. 24.) has described the kingdom of Christ: the growth and extent of the New Testament church, and the prodigious increase of her converts, are also beautifully set forth by the Psalmist under this emblem. (Psal. xcii. 12.) Of this particular wood, we find that Solomon made himself a chariot. (Song iv. 11.).....is the comparison applicable to that Just One, the King of The prosperity of the righteous is compared to the cedar; and Righteousness and Tree of Life; eminent and upright; ever it is further employed to denounce the judgments of God on verdant and fragrant; under the greatest pressure and weight men of proud and high minds. (Psal. xxix. 4.) The conver- of sufferings, still ascending towards Heaven; affording both sion of the Gentiles also to the worship of the true God is ex-fruit and protection; incorruptible and immortal." pressed in terms highly beautiful (Isa. xxix. 17. xxxii. 15.), as also the prosperity of the kingdom of Christ. (Isa. ii. 2.) Those who encompassed the priests at the altar are also compared to them, as also the glory of wisdom. (Ecclus. xxiv. 15.) It may be further added, that cedar trees, uniting so many qualities well adapted for building, afforded ample materials for the structure of the temple, and were sent by king Hiram to Solomon for that purpose. (1 Kings v. 10-15.)" Every thing about the cedar tree has a strong balsamic odour: this probably is the smell of Lebanon, mentioned in Sol. Song iv. 11. and Hos. iv. 16. (2.) The FOREST OF OAKS on the mountains of Bashan (Zech. xi. 2.): we may judge of the high estimation in which these oaks were held, from an incidental expression of the prophet Ezekiel; who, speaking of the power and wealth of ancient Tyre, says,-Of the oaks of Bashan they have made thine oars. (Ezek. xxvii. 6.) Groves of oaks, it is well known, were the scenes of idolatry in those remote times, on account of the grateful shelter which they afforded to the deluded worshippers. The prophet Ezekiel expressly alludes to this practice. (Ezek. vi. 13.). (3.) The FOREST or WOOD of Ephraim, which the children of Ephraim began to cut down (Josh. xvii. 15.), was still standing in the time of David: here Absalom was suspended from an oak, and was slain. (2 Sam. xviii. 6. 8. 17.) The wood in the vicinity of Bethel mentioned in 2 Kings ii. 24. appears to have been part of the wood of Ephraim. (4.) The spacious FOREST of Hareth in the tribe of Judah, attention of his hearers to some object at hand; and as the fields of the the Sermon on the Mount was delivered. brow before his crucifixion. For this purpose it must have been very fit; as its thorns, which are an inch in length, are very strong and sharp. It is not unlike a willow in growth and flexibility; and as the leaves greatly resemble those of the ivy, it is not improbable that the enemies of Christ chose it, on account of its similarity to the plant with which it was usual to crown emperors and generals: so that calumny, insult, and derision might be meditated in the very act of punishment. Hasselquist's Voyages in the Levant, p. 288. Three Weeks in Palestine, p. 83. From the passage above referred to, it should seem that the myrtle tree attained a considerable size. In the Morea, an intelligent traveller (Mr. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. ii. p. 105. 3d edition. Besides the palm trees, Jericho was celebrated for its fragrant balsam, mentioned in the Scriptures under the name of the BALM OF GILEAD. (Jer. viii. 22. xlvi. 11. li. 8.) This balsam, which exudes from the opobalsamum or balsam tree, was mentioned by Strabo;13 and two plantations of it existed during the last war of the Jews with the Romans, for which both parties fought desperately, the Jews, that they might destroy them;-the Romans, that they might prevent them from destruction. Since the country has been under the government of the Turks, the balm of Gilead has ceased to be cultivated in Palestine, though it is found in different parts of Arabia and Egypt. At present, it is collected chiefly in Arabia, between Mecca and Medina, and is therefore sometimes called the balm of Mecca. Its odour is exquisitely fragrant and pungent. It is very costly, and is still in the highest esteem among the Turks and other oriental nations, both as a cosmetic and as a medicine for the cure of external wounds. OLIVE TREES are now, as anciently, abundant and fruitful; and the culture of them continues to form a particular object of attention. The expression-Oil out of the flinty rock (Deut. xxxii. 13.) plainly denotes, that it was not in rich land only that this most valuable tree should grow; but that even the tops of the rocks would afford sufficient support for olive trees, from which they should extract abundance of oil. Accordingly we are informed that, although the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem is rugged and uncompromising, yet even there the olive and vine might flourish under proper culture.14 Various similitudes are derived from the olive tree by the inspired writers; as well as from the vine, which affords a triple produce in each year. POMEGRANATE and APPLE TREES were likewise cultivated to a considerable extent (Num. xiii. 23. Deut. viii. 8. Joel. i. 12.), as also was the almond tree, whose fruit is ripe and fit to gather about the middle of April. The citron tree was in great request for its fragrant and refreshing shade, as well as for its delicious fruit. (Sol. Song ii. 3. where it is mistranslated apple tree.) FIG TREES are very common in Palestine, and flourish in a dry and sandy soil: although in our climate they are little more than shrubs, yet in the East they attain a considerable height, and some of them are capable of affording shelter to a large number of horsemen. The shade of the fig tree is very pleasant; and to sit under it is an emblem of security and peace. (Mic. iv. 4.) Fig trees begin to sprout at the time of the vernal equinox. (Luke xxi. 29, 30. Matt. xxiv. 32.) On the various products of the palm tree, see Kæmpfer's Amœnitates 9 Lib. xvi. vol. ii. p. 1085. Oxon. 1807. folio. 10 De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 6. $6. lib. iv. c. 8. §3. 11 Dr. Shaw has enumerated them. Travels, vol. ii. p. 151. 12 Bp. Horne's Commentary on Psal. xcii. 12. (Works, vol. ii. p. 145.) 14 Jowett's Researches in Syria, p. 305. Dr. A. Clarke on Deut. xxxii. 13. carried to Jerusalem, and, according to Jerome, one of the gates of that city was from this circumstance denominated the Fish-gate. The Dead Sea furnished abundance of salt for curing their fish, for which purpose it was said to be superior to every other kind of salt. The fruit makes its appearance before the leaves and flowers, and the foliage expands about the end of March. The fig trees of Palestine are of three kinds :-1. The Untimely fig, which puts forth at the vernal equinox, and before it is ripe is called the green fig, but when it is ripe the untimely fig. (Sol. Song ii. 13. Jer. xxiv. 2. Hos. ix. 3.) It comes to ma- 3. Although we have no evidence that the Jews wrought turity towards the end of June (Matt. xxi. 19. Mark xi. 13.), any MINES of iron or copper; yet the researches of modern and in flavour surpasses the other kinds.-2. The Summer or travellers have ascertained that the mountains of Palestine dry fig: it appears about the middle of June, and is ripe in contain iron, particularly those whose summits and sides are August.-3. The Winter fig, which germinates in August, occupied by the industrious Druses. A vein of coal has also and does not ripen until about the end of November: it is been discovered: but there is no one to sink a mine. Report longer and of a browner colour than the others. All figs, says, that there was anciently a copper-mine at Aleppo, when ripe, but especially the untimely, fall spontaneously, which (M. Volney is of opinion) must have long since been (Nahum iii. 12.) The early figs are eaten, but some are dried abandoned. These facts, however, substantiate the accuracy in the sun, and preserved in masses, which are called cakes of of Moses in his description of the Promised Land,-as a figs in 1 Sam. xxv. 18. xxx. 12. 1 Chron. xii. 40. It is well land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou known that the fruit of these prolific trees always precedes mayest dig copper (Deut. viii. 9.), as the Hebrew ought to be the leaves: consequently, when Jesus Christ saw one of them rendered, there being no such thing in nature as a brass mine. in full vigour having leaves (Mark xi. 13.), he might, accord- III. In perusing the Scripture accounts of this highlying to the common course of nature, very justly look for fruit, favoured country it ought to be considered that it was then and haply find some boccores or early figs, if not some winter inhabited by an industrious people, who knew how to improve figs likewise upon it. The parable in Luke xiii. 6-9. is every inch of their land, and by their good husbandry had founded on the oriental mode of gardening: and the method made even the most desert and barren places to yield some of improving the palm (whose bareness may be remedied in kind of production; so that the very rocks, which now appear the way there mentioned) is transferred to the fig tree. quite naked, then yielded either corn, pulse, or pasture. The SYCAMORE TREE flourished in Palestine as well as in Every man had his own land to improve; and when, in adEgypt: its leaves are like those of the mulberry tree; and its dition to these facts, it is considered that a warm country will sweetish, watery, but somewhat aromatic and not disagree- support more people than a cold one, the people in southern able fruit, comes to maturity several times in the year, with- climates being satisfied with less food than in northern; and out observing any certain seasons. It resembles that of the that the dominions of David and Solomon comprised a greater fig tree in appearance, but differs from it in having no seeds extent of territory than many apprehend; we can be at no within. This tree does not grow from the seed, but is pro-loss to account for the vast multitude of inhabitants, which pagated by the branch: it produces abundance of fruit, which the Scriptures assert that Palestine anciently supported, espegrows in a peculiar manner,-not on the extremities of the cially when their statements of its fertility and population are boughs as in other trees, but near the trunk. It is a large confirmed by the testimonies of profane historians. tree, attaining a considerable height, which circumstance will account for Zacchæus's climbing up into a sycamore tree in order that he might see Jesus. Its timber appears to have been anciently used in building. (Isa. ix. 10.) It affords a very grateful shade. From its fruit the Arabs extract an oil, which they sell to travellers, who keep it among their other holy things, and pretend that it possesses a singular virtue in curing wounds, for which reason they call it the oil of Zacchæus, attributing its virtue to the stay which Zaccheus made upon the tree! (Luke xix. 4.) The PRICKLY PEAR, which most probably is the thorns mentioned in Hos. ii. 6., is a cumbrous shrub, which grows to a prodigious size, and affords one of the firmest and most secure fences imaginable.1 lee, of Peræa and Samaria, he speaks of their fertility and produce in the following terms: Thus, Tacitus describes the climate as dry and sultry; the natives as strong and patient of labour; the soil as fruitful, exuberant in its produce, like that of Italy, and yielding the palm and balm tree. Libanus or Lebanon is stated to be the loftiest mountain in the country, and to rise to a great height, affording a grateful shade under its verdant groves, and even in the ardent heat of that sultry region as being covered at the top with perpetual snow. Justin confirms the account of Tacitus, respecting the exuberant produce of Palestine, its beautiful climate, its palm and fragrant balsam trees. The palms of Judæa are celebrated by the elder Pliny ; and Ammianus Marcellinus commends the beauty of the country, and its large and handsome cities. But the most memorable testimony is that of Josephus the Jewish historian, which 2. But the Holy Land was eminently distinguished for its appears in various parts of his writings. Not to multiply abundance of CATTLE, to the management and rearing of unnecessary examples, we may state briefly, that after describwhich the inhabitants chiefly applied themselves. The hillying the boundaries of the regions of Upper and Lower Galicountry not only afforded them variety and plenty of pasture, but also of water, which, descending thence, carried fertility into the low lands and valleys. The most celebrated pasture grounds were on each side of the river Jordan, besides those of Sharon, the plains of Lydda, Jamnia, and some others of less note. The breed of cattle reared in Bashan, and on the mountains of Gilead and Carmel, were remarkable for their size, their strength, and fatness, to which there are frequent allusions in the Scriptures. The cattle of the Israelites comprised every sort of animal that afforded either food or clothing, or was applicable to other useful purposes, as sheep, oxen, goats, camels, and asses. The last-mentioned animals were of a more handsome form than are seen in our colder climate; hence they were chiefly used in travelling in this hilly country, even by persons of rank. Horses do not appear to have been in use, until after the establishment of the monarchy. The various rivers, especially the Jordan, the Lake of Tiberias, and the Mediterranean Sea, afforded great variety and plenty of FISH, vast quantities of which were 1 Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, &c. vol. i. p. 177. 3d edition. For a particular account of the vegetable productions of the Holy Land, the reader is referred to the Hiero-Botanicon of Celsius (Upsala, 1745-1747, in two parts or vols. 8vo.); and for its zoology to the Hierozoicon of Bochart foli, Lug. Bat. 1714, or in three vols. 4to. Lipsia, 1793, and following years.) The reader who may not be able to consult these elaborate works, will find much useful information concerning the plants and animals of the Holy Land in Professor Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture, part ii. vol. i. 297-567. vol. ii. pp. 1–359. ; and particularly in Dr. Harris's Natural History of the Bible, already referred to. The whole of the scenery (says Dr. Richardson), since we entered Palestine, amply confirms the language of Scripture, that this is a land flowing with milk and honey,-a land for flocks, and herds, and bees, and fitted for the residence of men, whose trade, like the patriarchs of old, was in cattle." Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. vol. ii. p. 374. The two Galilees have always been able to make a strong resistance on all occasions of war: for the Galileans are inured to war from their infancy, and have always been very numerous. Their soil is universally rich, and fruitful, and full of plantations of all sorts of trees; so that its fertility invites the most slothful to take pains in its cultivation. Accordingly the whole of it is cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of it lies idle. Although the greater part of Peræa, he continues, is desert and rough, and much less disposed for the production of the milder sorts of fruits, yet in other parts it has a moist soil, and produces all kinds of fruits. Its plains are planted with trees of all sorts; the olive tree, the vine, and the palm trees are principally cultivated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents, that issue from the mountains, and with springs which never fail to run, even when the torrents fail them, as they do in the dog-days. Samaria is entirely of the same nature with Judæa. Both countries are composed of hills and valleys; they are moist enough for agriculture, and are very fertile. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, both of that which grows wild, and also of that which is the effect of cultivation. They are not naturally watered by many rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain water, of which they have no want. The waters of such rivers as they have, are exceed On the population of the Holy Land, see Michaelis's Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, vol. i. pp. 98-110. 4 Taciti Historia, lib. v. c. 6. Hist. Nat. lib. xiii. c. 6. |